Jaguars’ Jones Caught with Cocaine

Matt Jones, the Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver was arrested Thursday morning on felony drug charge in his former college town, Arkansas. He was caught cutting cocaine with a credit card in a vehicle with two other men.

The former Razorback was inside a Toyota SUV in Fayetteville with two other former Arkansas football players just after 12:40 a.m. when police came around. The officers noticed a card covered in a white powder in Jones' lap as he used a credit card to scrape something that was apparently cocaine.

Jones was asked to put his hands in air after the officers opened the car’s door. Jones kept his left hand out of view, forcing at least one officer to draw his handgun, said the police report.

His two companions were recognized as 25-year-old Jared Hicks, also a former Razorback, and 26-year-old Benjamin Cook.

All three of them were booked on misdemeanor drug charges. After asking them to step out of the vehicle, the police rummaged around and found a plastic bag filled with a white substance, which tested positive for cocaine and a jar which probably contained marijuana residue.

According to the report, on being poked by the officers, Jones acknowledged that the white powder was cocaine.

The team tried to avoid commenting before a thorough investigation into the matter.

"We're trying to investigate that now," Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver said of Jones' arrest. "We don't have all the facts. We will comment on that once we have all the facts."

Matt Jones was a 2005 first-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he has played wide receiver.
Previously he was a star quarterback at Arkansas, where he threw for 5,857 yards and rushed for 2,535.

Jones caught 77 passes for 1,075 yards and nine touchdowns in his first two pro seasons, but 2007 demanded more struggle. Early last season, Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio had openly questioned Jones' on-field conduct, suggesting that he was taking plays off and pouting when he didn’t get the ball.

Jones was held at the Washington County Jail on Thursday on a charge of felony possession of a controlled substance.